1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle transmission heat exchangers and more particularly pertains to a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler for enhancing the cooling of transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission, especially manual transmissions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of vehicle transmission heat exchangers is known in the prior art. More specifically, vehicle transmission heat exchangers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,671; U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,999; U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,926; U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,718; U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,760; U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,368; U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,036; U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,114; U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,129; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,439.
These devices require complex systems to circulate transmission fluid from a transmission to a heat exchanger of some sort and then back to the transmission. Most of these systems require a pump to move the fluid along the path. The pumps used have to be resistant to failure under high temperature conditions which causes such pumps to be expensive. The pathway between the transmission, pump and heat exchanger usually consists of costly high temperature hose that can resist high temperature as well as being highly durable due to the fact that the systems are mounted on the under side of the engines and thus are subject to impacts from debris from the road. The connections between components of such systems require a method of sealing that can withstand extreme temperature variations which can lead to leaks due to the inability of the seals to expand or contract as the need arises.
The vehicle transmission fluid cooler according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of enhancing the cooling of transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission.